It's a Jungle Out There!

I finally got around to doing the Block Party's block for this week. It was an easy one, even though it is only 9 inches square. It is called "Chain and Cross". I don't like the name. so I think I am going to call mine "Jungle Fever". All of the fabric came from my scrap bin, so I am happy about that.
I have been sort of busy sewing all week. Well, not really busy, just sort of lazy. so I have nothing to show you. Sorry! All of my work has been the mindless sewing of wonky log cabin blocks. They are all at various stages of development. I just sew a few pieces of fabric together whenever I feel like it. I think I will start to square them and sandwich them and maybe do a quilt-as-you-go project. I'll take some photos as soon as I have something interesting to show for my efforts.

Becoming a Computer Geek?

A few weeks ago many bloggers were posting old photos of themselves and their families dressed in their Easter best. I wanted to join in, but I couldn't get my old scanner to work. So I went out and bought a new scanner. The guy in the store told me that I would be able to hook it up myself. Well...... he obviously doesn't know me! I am totally computer challenged, but in order to save myself the installation fee, I decided to give it a try.

I read the instructions. They made no sense to me. I re-read and re-read and still nothing clicked. So I just turned on my computer, put the installation disk in the drive and followed the instructions. There were a few snags, but I seem to have done it! So just call me a Computer Geek. Okay? I am really proud of myself!

I wanted to scan something in order to try it out. So I chose this photo of a quilt I made about 8 or 9 years ago. The principal of my school at that time asked me to make something colourful for the long brick wall in her office. She wanted me to include some of the students' work. This is what I came up with. It is actually one of my favourite quilts, and I would have posted it on last week's Bloggers Quilt Festival, but I don't own the quilt anymore and I couldn't get a picture of it without my new scanner.

I had the kids in our ME (Multiple Exceptionalities) class draw the pictures. We had some really talented kids that year! I created applique pieces out of their pictures. Everything was hand sewn. I did the applique, but the sashing and borders were done by several students in my class. I taught them how to sew and once they got the hang of it, they were off and running! I wanted this quilt to have an African theme. Gosh there are a lot of memories in this thing!

My Friday Block Party Block

With all the excitement of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, I almost forgot to show you this week's block from the Friday Block Party. This one is called, "Dakota Gold". I like this block. It was easy and quick. I don't know if that is because it actually is easy and quick or if I am just getting better at doing these blocks. This is another 10-inch block, so I used batiks again. I now have a total of eight 10-inch blocks. Only a few more and I will have a small quilt!
Doing a block a week is not a lot of work. In fact, I look forward to Fridays in order to see what the next block will be. This was week 16. That means I have at least 16 blocks made altogether. Not bad, eh? I made some of the blocks twice, so I actually have more. And I don't feel as if I have been slaving over them. Doing only one block per week, and a different one at that, keeps everything interesting.

Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day!

A day to make people aware of what is happening to our planet.

Are you doing something to make our world a better place?

We need to lesson our impact on our world.

Make every day an earth day!

Turn off the lights when not in use.

Say "No!" to plastic.

Recycle!

Take public transit.

Use water wisely.

Plant a tree.

I think I will make a new bag today, something that I can re-use.

If we each do a little, we can all do a lot!

A Cat Quilt

Hi Folks!

If you have come to my blog to view my favourite quilt for the Bloggers Quilt Festival - Welcome! Please scroll down to Friday's post.

If you have just come to look around - Welcome also! I have a small quilt to show you. I finished it a few weeks ago, but I couldn't post about it because it was a present for my uncle who lives in Holland. Since he has now received it, I can show it. It is just a small quilt, made especially for his special cat! I used a lot of cat prints and some colourful fabrics to make it interesting.

Oscar loves the quilt. Don't you my boy?

"Meow! Yeah! KEWL! Can I keep it?"

"No, sorry Oscar. This one is not for you."

"Ah, please. Pretty please with sardines on it? I just want to nap on it. I won't hurt it. Ahhh, this feels so good!"

I know it is difficult for your little cat brain to understand this Oscar, but not all the quilts I make are for you. This one is for Whitey. Here is a photo of Whitey on his new quilt. My uncle put it on a table in front of a window, where Whitey likes to sit. I think he likes it! My goodness! Now that I look at the photo of Whitey I realize he looks a lot like you Oscar! You guys could be brothers!

I also made a couple of place mats for my uncle so that he wouldn't feel left out.

My Favourite for the Bloggers Quilt Festival

Are you ready for the First Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival?

Well, come along.

This should be good!

Here is my entry. I may have already shown you this quilt in he past, but it is my all-time favourite! It is a wall hanging, 34 inches square that I did completely by hand - the applique, the sewing and the quilting. It was my first applique quilt. The course was offered at the now-closed Quilter's Garden.

Each block is 8 inches square. I spent many hours happily appliqueing away. Even when I look at it now I can't believe that I had so much energy and patience to do all of those small blocks! Here is a close-up of one of the blocks.


It would be interesting (for me at least) to count all the applique pieces to see how many there are in this quilt. Maybe I'll do that one day. I haven't hung it on my wall yet because I think I would like to do a bit more hand quilting on it. I was not very good at hand quilting at the time and did the absolute minimum.

Click on the Bloggers Quilt Festival button on my side bar to view the other quilters who are taking part in this.

A Virtual Quilt Show!

This is exciting! I just found out that there is going to be a Bloggers Quilt Show! There are quite a few bloggers out there who are going to participate. From April 17th until April 24th these bloggers will post their most favourite quilt. Oh, boy! I think there will be a lot of really nice quilts in this show! There are even some give-aways for those participating, but I am not really sure how they work. Maybe you can figure that out, but for me the reward will be to see all the lovely quilts!

I love quilt shows, but right now I am in no condition to go on long trips to find them. So this seems like a great idea. Come and join me! Click here to join. Or click on the icon on my sidebar. I am now going to look through my favourite quilts to see which one I am going to post!

Not Much to Show - Just Two Small Blocks

Boy, this weekend went by quickly! The weather was good - nice and sunny! We had Easter dinner at our house. I was ordered by my kids not to buy any chocolate this year, so I didn't. But it really felt as if something was missing!

The Friday Block Party was called "Bouncing Betty". I made the block in the bottom right corner first. Then Kathryn posted a quick way of doing the corner blocks which have the large triangles in them. I just had to try the block again! The top left block is a result of that method. It went together very quickly. I just wish I had made the block in more colours, kind of like the first one, to look more like coloured Easter eggs! The blocks are only 8 inches square. Right now they are orphans. I might make some other 8-in. blocks in the future to go with them. But for now this is all I could put together on this long, but very busy weekend!

Baby Bears

My first finish for April! Yippeeeee! I showed you a part (the little blue bear) of this quilt a few weeks ago. I finished quilting it this morning. There was not much left to do. I had already put the binding on.

It was started at a Bee Night held by our Quilting Guild many years ago. The lesson was half log cabin blocks. I was not happy with the layout of the blocks, so I changed them, laying them out with large white areas in order to leave room for some applique. The bears are my own design. I just drew them and then appliqued them using the freezer paper method. I call this quilt, Baby Bears.

Hetty's Star

Here is my version of this week's Friday Block Party Block. It is called, "Cathy's Star". I changed it a little in the bottom right hand corner, because I didn't think the yellow star points showed up enough. I put dark blue around them. It sort of changed the whole look of the block, but I still like it. I doubt, however, that I would ever make another one of these. What I might try (some day) is to put only one star within the large star - leaving that yellow one out all together. I think it would work, don't you?

A Perfect Spring Day!

I didn't do any quilting today. None. Not even one stitch! But I was busy though.

It was a beautiful day. warm and springlike. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The crocuses were blooming on my lawn. I decided to take my scooter and go out for a little jaunt. Having no idea of where to go, I let my scooter take me where it wanted to. I passed by the school where my daughter teaches. I stopped in and found a beautiful mural on the wall in the entrance way. It was all made by the students - out of paper mache! They had some help from an artist, but each student had something up to contribute to the mural. This is the part I liked the best. A robin's nest. What could be more springlike?

I continued on my way and my scooter drove me past the school where I last worked. I went in, not really knowing what to expect. It was a great experience! I talked to fellow colleagues who I hadn't seen for years. And there were still some of my former students who recognized me. They looked wonderful, although a little (actually a whole lot) taller! One of the students told me he was graduating in June. He invited me to the graduation. I think I will go!

Then I was back on the road. My scooter took me through spring woods, still sound asleep and then down to the lake. It made a left turn and I ended up......... at a local quilt shop! Oh my! What a great scooter I have. It knows exactly where I like to go. Since I was there, I had to buy some fabric - of course. When I got home I was exhausted, but very content and happy. It was a perfect spring day!